John M. G. BarclayDurham University"Campbell's massive new work is startlingly original, sometimes brilliant in its insights, and always boldly provocative. His strongly antithetical vision identifies ‘participation in Christ' as the sole core of Pauline theology and produces the most radical rereading of Romans 1–4 for more than a generation. Even those who disagree will be forced to clarify their views as never before, and this theologically passionate attempt to rethink Paul at a fundamental level will make a considerable impact on Pauline scholarship for years to come."

Douglas HarinkThe King's University College"Will the thick, high walls of traditional Justification theory, erected on the foundations of centuries of conventional readings of Romans and buttressed by modern political and economic theory, finally ‘come a tumblin' down'? Will Paul's revolutionary apocalyptic message be delivered from imprisonment in that mighty fortress? Arming himself with an immense array of theoretical, historical, exegetical, philosophical, and theological weapons, Douglas Campbell launches a massive attack on the bastions of Justification theory. At times dismantling stone by stone, at times blasting out an entire section of the wall (such as the traditional reading of Romans 1:18–3:20 in his chapter 14), Campbell aims to reduce the city of traditional Justification theory to ruins. Only then, he believes, will Paul's gospel, thus freed from captivity, burst forth again in its original truth and power. The consequences for Christian life are not only theological but also intrinsically social, political, economic. The battle over Paul's gospel is engaged in this book with an intensity, passion, and breadth of learning rarely seen since the days of Luther. Will Justification theorists be able to defend the walls? Will Campbell triumph? Or does the outcome still hang in the balance? Any scholar with a stake in Paul, the gospel, and Christian truth will have to read this book to find out."

Alan J. TorranceUniversity of St. Andrews"This immensely insightful and, indeed, courageous volume is the result of two decades of research by a New Testament scholar with unique theological insight. A work of profound significance for the theological world as much as for the world of Pauline scholarship."

Michael J. GormanEcumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary's Seminary and University"Douglas Campbell's continuation of the quest for Paul's gospel is a bold exercise in deconstruction and reconstruction. One may disagree with parts of his analysis, or take a somewhat different route to the same destination, but his overall thesis is persuasive: for Paul, justification is liberative, participatory, transformative, Trinitarian, and communal. This is a truly theological and ecumenical work with which all serious students of Paul must now come to terms."

N. T. WrightBishop of Durham"Campbell's massive book picks up the big ideas that dominate the study of Paul, spins them around, spreads them out in a novel way, and insists that we see them in an unusual and disturbing light. Even those of us who remain unconvinced by his bold and provocative proposals will have our breath taken away by the scale, the scope and, above all, the sheer surprise of this historical, exegetical, and theological tour de force."

“I blurbed Douglas’s book and was possibly the most positive of the five who did so:

Douglas Campbell’s continuation of the quest for Paul’s gospel is a bold exercise in deconstruction and reconstruction. One may disagree with parts of the analysis, or take a somewhat different route to the same destination, but his overall thesis is persuasive: for Paul, justification is liberative, participatory, transformative, Trinitarian, and communal. This is a truly theological and ecumenical work with which all serious students of Paul must now come to terms.

This means, more bluntly, that in my estimation Douglas is both profoundly right (’his overall thesis is persuasive’) and simultaneously off the mark (’One may disagree with parts of the analysis, or take a somewhat different route to the same destination’). Fortunately, he is terribly right where it really matters: in his perceptive characterization of the liberative and participatory character of justification in Paul. Unfortunately, the relatively narrow topic of this panel’s review—the book’s treatment of Romans 1-3—is where Douglas is, I think, off the mark.”

“One of the real gems in The Deliverance of God is an excursus entitled “The Case—Briefly—against Coercive Violence in Paul” (pp. 89-94) . . . It is about time that NT scholars start taking Paul’s perspective on violence and nonviolence seriously!”

“It would be a fantastic vacation read or summer read for pastors; it is a must for professors and I believe should be read by seminary students as a primary text on Paul -- whether one agrees with it or not.”

Loren Rosson III, “The Deliverance of God,” The Busybody blog, (Oct 7, 2009). Rossom is a librarian at the Nashua Public Library.

“Let me start by saying that I'm in awe of The Deliverance of God. There hasn't been a book of its kind since Sanders, pressing us to take a long look behind ourselves and then ahead again with new lenses. Parts of it need to be read at least twice for proper digestion, so don't expect to breeze through it curled up on the couch with a brandy snifter. In addition to the required mental exercise is the physical, which you'll get from lugging the damn thing around: it comes in at 936 pages, 1218 including endnotes. Is it worth all the effort? Unquestionably . . . Campbell has given us an out that works. It's unfortunately wrong.”

“. . . read Douglas Campbell's brilliant, I repeat brilliant tome, The Deliverance of God . . . I think it is the most important book to have been published since Sanders' Paul and Palestinian Judaism . . . Though this sort of thing is often said, I mean it most seriously: This one should become compulsory reading for any Pauline aficionados.”

“But to work through this book from beginning to end will require scheduling – it is over 1,000 pages. But it is deliciously provocative, a joy to read, filled with all manner of 'aha!' moments with many clever (nay, brilliant) twists.”

“Douglas Campbell’s new book The Deliverance of God – An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul is a very substantial work likely to ruffle more feathers than a windstorm in a chicken coup . . . I do like the fact that he tries a new reading of Romans 1-4, which I think is overdue . . . I don’t like the way he relies on the fictitious dialogue throughout.”

“Wow. That’s my initial reaction to a quick perusal . . . Still, from an initial glance, Campbell is on the right track at many points, and the book appears to be bracing and challenging in all kinds of healthy ways.”

“This is an impressive book with an impressive argument to offer, but the feet of clay also seem to be clearly evident. Mind you, by the time the thousandth page has been clocked up, it might be necessary to do a volte face and offer up a paean of lavish praise, before prayerfully ordering the complete works of Barth and Torrance. But I doubt it.”

John M. G. BarclayDurham University"Campbell's massive new work is startlingly original, sometimes brilliant in its insights, and always boldly provocative. His strongly antithetical vision identifies ‘participation in Christ' as the sole core of Pauline theology and produces the most radical rereading of Romans 1–4 for more than a generation. Even those who disagree will be forced to clarify their views as never before, and this theologically passionate attempt to rethink Paul at a fundamental level will make a considerable impact on Pauline scholarship for years to come."

Douglas HarinkThe King's University College"Will the thick, high walls of traditional Justification theory, erected on the foundations of centuries of conventional readings of Romans and buttressed by modern political and economic theory, finally ‘come a tumblin' down'? Will Paul's revolutionary apocalyptic message be delivered from imprisonment in that mighty fortress? Arming himself with an immense array of theoretical, historical, exegetical, philosophical, and theological weapons, Douglas Campbell launches a massive attack on the bastions of Justification theory. At times dismantling stone by stone, at times blasting out an entire section of the wall (such as the traditional reading of Romans 1:18–3:20 in his chapter 14), Campbell aims to reduce the city of traditional Justification theory to ruins. Only then, he believes, will Paul's gospel, thus freed from captivity, burst forth again in its original truth and power. The consequences for Christian life are not only theological but also intrinsically social, political, economic. The battle over Paul's gospel is engaged in this book with an intensity, passion, and breadth of learning rarely seen since the days of Luther. Will Justification theorists be able to defend the walls? Will Campbell triumph? Or does the outcome still hang in the balance? Any scholar with a stake in Paul, the gospel, and Christian truth will have to read this book to find out."

Alan J. TorranceUniversity of St. Andrews"This immensely insightful and, indeed, courageous volume is the result of two decades of research by a New Testament scholar with unique theological insight. A work of profound significance for the theological world as much as for the world of Pauline scholarship."

Michael J. GormanEcumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary's Seminary and University"Douglas Campbell's continuation of the quest for Paul's gospel is a bold exercise in deconstruction and reconstruction. One may disagree with parts of his analysis, or take a somewhat different route to the same destination, but his overall thesis is persuasive: for Paul, justification is liberative, participatory, transformative, Trinitarian, and communal. This is a truly theological and ecumenical work with which all serious students of Paul must now come to terms."

N. T. WrightBishop of Durham"Campbell's massive book picks up the big ideas that dominate the study of Paul, spins them around, spreads them out in a novel way, and insists that we see them in an unusual and disturbing light. Even those of us who remain unconvinced by his bold and provocative proposals will have our breath taken away by the scale, the scope and, above all, the sheer surprise of this historical, exegetical, and theological tour de force."

“I blurbed Douglas’s book and was possibly the most positive of the five who did so:

Douglas Campbell’s continuation of the quest for Paul’s gospel is a bold exercise in deconstruction and reconstruction. One may disagree with parts of the analysis, or take a somewhat different route to the same destination, but his overall thesis is persuasive: for Paul, justification is liberative, participatory, transformative, Trinitarian, and communal. This is a truly theological and ecumenical work with which all serious students of Paul must now come to terms.

This means, more bluntly, that in my estimation Douglas is both profoundly right (’his overall thesis is persuasive’) and simultaneously off the mark (’One may disagree with parts of the analysis, or take a somewhat different route to the same destination’). Fortunately, he is terribly right where it really matters: in his perceptive characterization of the liberative and participatory character of justification in Paul. Unfortunately, the relatively narrow topic of this panel’s review—the book’s treatment of Romans 1-3—is where Douglas is, I think, off the mark.”

“One of the real gems in The Deliverance of God is an excursus entitled “The Case—Briefly—against Coercive Violence in Paul” (pp. 89-94) . . . It is about time that NT scholars start taking Paul’s perspective on violence and nonviolence seriously!”

“It would be a fantastic vacation read or summer read for pastors; it is a must for professors and I believe should be read by seminary students as a primary text on Paul -- whether one agrees with it or not.”

Loren Rosson III, “The Deliverance of God,” The Busybody blog, (Oct 7, 2009). Rossom is a librarian at the Nashua Public Library.

“Let me start by saying that I'm in awe of The Deliverance of God. There hasn't been a book of its kind since Sanders, pressing us to take a long look behind ourselves and then ahead again with new lenses. Parts of it need to be read at least twice for proper digestion, so don't expect to breeze through it curled up on the couch with a brandy snifter. In addition to the required mental exercise is the physical, which you'll get from lugging the damn thing around: it comes in at 936 pages, 1218 including endnotes. Is it worth all the effort? Unquestionably . . . Campbell has given us an out that works. It's unfortunately wrong.”

“. . . read Douglas Campbell's brilliant, I repeat brilliant tome, The Deliverance of God . . . I think it is the most important book to have been published since Sanders' Paul and Palestinian Judaism . . . Though this sort of thing is often said, I mean it most seriously: This one should become compulsory reading for any Pauline aficionados.”

“But to work through this book from beginning to end will require scheduling – it is over 1,000 pages. But it is deliciously provocative, a joy to read, filled with all manner of 'aha!' moments with many clever (nay, brilliant) twists.”

“Douglas Campbell’s new book The Deliverance of God – An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul is a very substantial work likely to ruffle more feathers than a windstorm in a chicken coup . . . I do like the fact that he tries a new reading of Romans 1-4, which I think is overdue . . . I don’t like the way he relies on the fictitious dialogue throughout.”

“Wow. That’s my initial reaction to a quick perusal . . . Still, from an initial glance, Campbell is on the right track at many points, and the book appears to be bracing and challenging in all kinds of healthy ways.”

“This is an impressive book with an impressive argument to offer, but the feet of clay also seem to be clearly evident. Mind you, by the time the thousandth page has been clocked up, it might be necessary to do a volte face and offer up a paean of lavish praise, before prayerfully ordering the complete works of Barth and Torrance. But I doubt it.”